


Kate may or may not hate Bucky

by EVVS



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Accidental Cheating?, Clint is kind of a walking tragedy, Deaf Clint Barton, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Brainwashing, Implied/Referenced Cheating, M/M, Winterhawk Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-22
Updated: 2015-09-22
Packaged: 2018-04-22 20:55:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4850204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EVVS/pseuds/EVVS
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I'm pretty sure Kate hates me."</p><p>"Kate doesn't hate you."</p><p>Kate hates Bucky.</p><p>(The Good News: Lucky seems to like Bucky?)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kate may or may not hate Bucky

**Author's Note:**

> Winterhawk Week 2015 - Day 2: Hate at First Sight

"Clint!" She slams the door to his apartment shut before dropping all her bags right next to his door. She doesn't have time for his bullshit today, they've got places to go, people to see, things to do. "Clint, you asshole, why don't you ever pick up your phone?"

"Probably because his aids are out," says a voice from the kitchen.  
  
Kate, taking a two second pause from her rage storm, looks to the source: a man perched at one of the bar stools, hunched over the counter with a mug of steaming coffee in his hand, wearing only a pair of sweats. Oh, and apparently one of his arms is metal, that's nice, okay.  
  
"Clint!" she calls again, this time using her hands like a megaphone as she shouts up the stairs.  
  
"He's gettin' out of the shower, give 'im a minute."  
  
Whoever the futz this guy is, he gives Kate the heebie-jeebies. Still, she doesn't want to talk with him, she wants to talk with Clint, she wants to ask who the hell this guy is, what the futz he's doing in Clint's apartment, how he managed to get his hair up in such a neat bun-  
  
"Kate, hush, Simone's kids might still be sleeping." Clint slowly picks his way down the stairs before rounding to head into the kitchen, and that's when this new guy, this futzing guy, passes a second mug of coffee to Clint.  
  
She blinks slowly.

Now that Clint’s got a couple of sips of coffee in him, he’s got sense enough to say, “Kate, this is Bucky. Bucky, that’s Kate.”

The only acknowledgement she gets is this vague little nod in her direction. And so Kate has to ask, “Any chance you want to explain who Bucky is and what he’s doing here?” Because Clint doesn’t have people over very often, and he doesn’t share coffee with many people; coffee is a sparse commodity in this apartment.

“We fuck sometimes,” says Bucky nonchalantly, which causes Clint to snort and choke on his coffee a little bit while Kate’s eyes widen because clearly _they hadn’t talked about this_ and _when did Clint start fucking this guy._

Clint, when he finally regains his speech, attempts to clarify, “We’re, uh, we’re dating?” He sounds uncertain and looks to Bucky for an answer, and when Bucky gives a noncommittal shrug and a passive expression, Clint goes, “Yeah, we’re dating.”

“…what about Jess?” asks Kate, glancing between the two of them slowly, trying to figure out when the hell this started; she left for two weeks to make sure her dad made it out of his shady deals in North Korea without being killed, and last she checked, Clint was sleeping around with Jess, so this is a total one-eighty to come home to.

Clint kind of looks at Kate before looking to the window. “Shit.” Of course he forgot about Jess.

Kate looks to Bucky, who just looks calmly confused while he sips at his coffee. There must be some kind of dating security here because he doesn’t seem to be concerned. This guy just seems to not give a shit with anything that is going on around him, and it’s bugging the futz out of Kate.

Considering she’s just now putting together exactly what’s going on, Kate opts to pick up her bag and back out. “Talk to Jess.” And then she’s leaving, pulling the door shut behind her. She doesn’t want to deal with Clint’s shit today.

\--

“So that went well,” says Bucky almost an hour later when Clint’s coming back from phoning Jessica Drew, who, as Bucky was informed, was actually dating Clint before Bucky came around.

“What?” asks Clint, swiping a hand across his face before rolling into bed next to Bucky and tucking his face into Bucky’s bare chest.

Bucky has to readjust for a second to allow Clint to crawl closer; then he dogears his page before tossing aside his book. He doesn’t want to ask about the call with Jess, so he’ll carry on by going, “Kate.”

“Oh. Yeah. That.” Clint places a couple kisses on Bucky’s abs, clearly trying to distract him from that conversation. “That could’ve gone better.”

“I’m pretty sure Kate hates me.”

“Kate doesn’t hate you,” promises Clint before pulling down Bucky’s sweats.

Knowing Clint needs some stress relief right now, Bucky doesn’t stop him.

\--

Kate hates Bucky.

It’s that simple.

Because now, whenever she shows up at Clint’s apartment, Bucky’s there. It took this guy all of two weeks to move in. What the futz. Who does that?

The hierarchy of the apartment is currently in chaos. Who gets the second mug of coffee in the mornings? Bucky. Who gets more of Clint’s attention? Bucky. Who interrupts their target practice? Bucky. Who ends up with them on their dog food runs? Bucky.

She even walked in on him naked one time. Gross. Just gross. (She should have knocked, but that’s not important.)

Bucky’s everywhere. This guy leaves his sci-fi novels lying around everywhere, and he constantly wants Clint’s attention, and he’s too _quiet_ so Kate can’t read him half the time, he’s like a statue, but apparently Clint understands him, _somehow_.

But it’s when the dog, the damn dog, goes to Bucky instead of Kate, that’s the last straw. Because Lucky is lying next to Bucky, licking his metal fingers, and it’s like she’s stepped into an alternate universe.

“What’s your deal?” Because they’re gonna get this out of the way before Clint gets home. She’ll have to deal with him at some point and it’s now or never.

He looks up, and one brow is raised. But he doesn’t say anything. Bucky doesn’t say a damn thing.

She wants to tear her hair out. “When did you even show up?! What happened while I was gone?! What’s going on here?! Did you brainwash Clint?!”

Bucky visibly freezes up at the last bit. After a moment, he looks down at Lucky and starts to gently scratch behind the dog’s ear. “He really didn’t tell you anythin’ about me, did he?”

Kate just stays posed in the kitchen, arms folded across her chest, eyeing him like _no shit, Sherlock._ Because it’s Clint, of course Clint didn’t tell her anything. He’s forgetful and oblivious. Typical.

“He told you what happened with Loki and the Chitauri thing, yeah?” When Bucky sees Kate nod apprehensively, he continues slowly, “Sam basically paired us up to talk about our shit. I was brainwashed for Russia, it’s a long story.” He waves a hand because apparently that’s a different thing for another day; bigger fish to fry for now. “Anyways, we did therapy together, basically. That was goin’ on for like a month before we started-“ Bucky cuts himself off, and Kate guesses that’s because Clint didn’t like it when he said _that thing_ last time, so she watches as he keeps petting Lucky and goes on. “I didn’t know anythin’ about Jessica, I swear. I didn’t mean to intrude on that, but things just happened. I fell in love with him. He’s just… He’s easy. When everythin’ else is complicated, there’s Clint.”

“You’re in love with him?” she asks, raising a pointed eyebrow at him because who would ever fall in love with the human tragedy that is Clint Barton?

“More and more every day.” And now Bucky finally makes eye contact with her. “And if you got a problem with that, then let’s sort it out. Because I don’t wanna be the reason you two have issues.”

Kate has to pinch the bridge of her nose because this guy isn’t a total dick, so she was wrong about that. He’s not pleasant, exactly, but he could be significantly worse, and she appreciates that he treats Clint right. (She’s salty about things with Jessica, but that’s already over, that won’t change.) “I was having issues with you, Barnes.”

Bucky’s lips purse as he muses this for a second. “Thought I was an ass?”

“A little bit,” she admits with a noncommittal shrug.

“Not unusual.” Bucky goes back to focusing on Lucky, whose tail is thumping against the couch. “I’m kind of an ass.”

“At least you’re modest.”

“More like self-aware.”

Kate likes him a little better already.

\--

“So I don’t think Kate hates me anymore,” says Bucky, looking up from his book to see Clint stepping out of the bathroom after his shower, so shameless as to not even wear pants before sliding into bed beside Bucky.

“That’s nice.” Clint is clearly too tired to give a fuck as he shifts so he’s lying on his back right next to Bucky, their shoulders touching. “What’d you do?”

Bucky leans over so that he can kiss Clint’s mess of wet hair. “Told her I was in love with you.”

Clint sinks into the bed more and wiggles so that he’s just a little closer to Bucky. His face is painted with a grin. “Didn’t realize you were a romantic, Buck.”

Bucky shakes his head, rolls his eyes, and returns to his book with a sigh.

“I love you too, by the way,” mumbles Clint before turning his head to kiss Bucky’s shoulder because that’s all he can reach without moving too much.

Smirking, Bucky flips to the next page.

\--

Maybe he’s trying to make amends, Kate recognizes when she sees a gift on the table, and the card isn’t in Clint’s scrawl; since the dog doesn’t have thumbs, it must be from Bucky.

_Kate: If you still hate me, I’m sorry. If not, here’s a present anyways._

He’s gained roughly thirty respect points just for effort. When she opens the box and finds a machete inside, she gives him about a thousand more respect points because a _machete_. Of all things.

Oh yeah, she could get used to this guy.

**Author's Note:**

> I had no idea what I was doing for today's prompt until last second and this is what happened. Also, the real way to Kate Bishop's heart is through a machete.
> 
> Hit me up on tumblr at skylarkevanson
> 
> (Tomorrow's prompt is the one I'm excited for, hope everyone's enjoying Winterhawk Week 2015!)


End file.
